So lately I have been feeling really weird "down there" but figured it was just something normal to the pregnancy. It just felt like intense pressure.

After all, everyone is commenting on how low I am carrying, including my midwife. So I really didn't think much of the pain and pressure, figured it was because of that.

Well, yesterday I got it all checked out... and it's vericose veins of my "down there" area. My privates are so swollen, and they look disgusting ... DH called it a swollen hamburger... THANKS LOVE!

I just cried and cried because the only thing that will make it go away, is birthing. I'm a little nervous because I don't know how I am going to have a natural birth, when even trying to have sex or wipe after peeing hurts beyond belief!

Also, on the complete vain side, I am worried my "down there" area will never go back to normal, and I also heard they get worse with every subsequent pregnancy... great!

Do any of you have any ideas that might help? I have been doing witch hazel on maxi pads (freezing them) and that helps sometimes.

I'm getting lots and lots of pressure down there, especially when I sit on the loo (even just for a few second to pee). And it feels really swollen. But I'm just scared to look!

The only thing I've been doing is trying to keep the pressure off occasionally - so make sure I lie down enough, go on all fours sometimes instead of sitting, if I'm playing with DD. My doula also did a rebozo thing which felt lovely and took the pressure off for a while.

I had a similar problem with DD #1. The only thing that helped was LOTS of pelvic tilts. We're talking over 100/day. And trying to get baby's weight on my stomach muscles rather than my pelvis as much as possible, which meant reading and otherwise spending quite a bit of time in a sort of weird, modified child's pose. I would get my hips/pelvis up on pillows or a big ball, then let my elbows take the weight of my upper body. I usually did this on the bed, so that it wasn't too hard on my elbows. Belly hanging free. Not very comfy, but it did relieve the pressure on my yoni. I also sometimes did it on the couch by putting a ton of pillows or the ball on the couch under my thighs, the arm of the couch under my armpits, and the book on the floor. Also not so comfy, but the trick is to get your back sloped toward your head without laying on your back. Tricky.

I've heard that swimming can help to, as it relieves some of the pelvic pressure. Good luck. Oh, and my lady parts did go back to their normal, non-swollen, regular color selves a couple weeks after baby was born. So don't stress to much about that!

ETA: I almost forgot! I also sat on a doughnut sort of pillow at work. (Like the kind for hemorrhoids) which also helped a little bit.

CD'ing, homebirthing, milk making school teacher. Supporting my family on my income and trying to get out of debt in 2013!

I would love to reply more, but the storms are rolling in... and threats of tornadoes and hail ughh! But real quick....

Lunarlady.... So since you had a similar problem with your first DD have you had "normal" pregnancies after her? I heard this will be a guarantee in all subsequent pregnancies.... ugh! Any hope of that not being the case is always reassuring lol.

I would like to think it has everything to do with the way the baby is putting pressure on certain areas... I never had this problem with my first *shrug*

Well, I'm only on #2, so I don't know if I have much to go by. I don't have the problem yet with this one, and I'm pretty sure it set in around 23 weeks with DD #1. I think the current baby is still breech, so that might be part of it (DD #1 turned pretty early, and I think that little head was really digging into my sensitive parts). So far, pretty darn normal with just some minor swelling, but not so painful. Ask me agian in 10 weeks, however, and I'm betting it will get bad agian. Near the end I definitly wasn't a happy camper, but did have a pretty "normal" vaginal delivery.

CD'ing, homebirthing, milk making school teacher. Supporting my family on my income and trying to get out of debt in 2013!

Some comfort hopefully! This is my fourth pregnancy, and I've had vulvar varicosities with all pregnancies. I won't even go into how bad they have gotten--my midwife said at the end of my third pregnancy that they were the worse she's seen. I work out every day, try to keep my legs up, do yoga, pilates, tried supplements, tried the braces and the stockings and the compresses--but they still get progressively worse with the pregnancy and it is partly genetic I think. Although probably what helps most is brisk walking everyday and avoid standing in place or sitting at a desk/computer for too long without lying down or elevating your legs. Even though sitting down feels good when you have that pressure, it actually doesn't prevent the veins from getting worse. Only lying down or elevating your lower body will actually help the circulation.

The good news is that they completely disappear right after birth! The bad news is they might bother you during birth the same way they bother you now--if you're standing or sitting on the toilet or squatting. A birthing ball was indispensable to relieve the discomfort for me if I was laboring upright. But they never interfered with the birth--the discomfort was about it.

The bad news is they get worse and start earlier with every pregnancy. It is just something I've gotten used to I guess as painful as it is, and yeah, don't look down there.

I would rec the Prenatal Cradle V2. It's like a compression jock-strap and helps me tremendously. I *cannot* be on my feet w/o it. Mine are worse w/ this pregnancy....they are really demoralizing sometimes. If you can't see the veins w/o trying at least they're not *that* huge!